NFL free agency rumor tracker: Seahawks free agents, cuts, signings, needs

The NFL tampering period opened on Tuesday at 9 AM PST. That means that for the first time this year, teams can negotiate with impending free agents. They will be able to officially sign these players on Thursday at 1 PM PST.

The Seattle Seahawks are estimated to have $25.9 million in cap space, per OvertheCap.com. That’s good news but even better is that they don’t have a ton of priorities for re-signing their own free agents. The biggest names there are Luke Willson, Mike Morgan, Tony McDaniel, Neiko Thorpe, Kelcie McCray, and Steve Hauschka. They could also lose Garry Gilliam, a restricted free agent who was given an original round tender. A team could sign Gilliam and the Seahawks would have a chance to match it. If they don’t, they receive nothing in return.

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Wednesday Updates

Around the NFC West

Calais Campbell, DE, JAGUARS

Reports as of Wednesday night are that Campbell is leaving the Cardinals to join the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is a significant loss for Arizona, but not one that was unexpected.

Tony Jefferson, S, Ravens?

It’s expected that Jefferson will sign with Baltimore. That’s another loss for the Cards defense.

Kyle Juszczyk, FB, 49ers

“Juice” may be the best fullback in the NFL, but San Francisco just signed him to a four-year, $21 million contract; that’s more than double what the second-highest paid fullback makes per year. Next-highest is $2.1 million/year, this is $5.25 million/year. In addition to signing Pierre Garcon to a contract that will reportedly pay him $16 million in the first year, it seems like John Lynch is unafraid to spend. And unaware how to spend.

Brian Hoyer, QB, 49ers

San Francisco may still be after Kirk Cousins, but they are reportedly signing Hoyer to at least compete if Cousins doesn’t make the trip. Hoyer would be an interesting stopgap to a Deshaun Watson or Mitch Trubisky situation.

Malcolm Smith, LB, Free Agent

There are reports that Smith is close to signing with the 49ers.

Chandler Jones, DE, Cardinals

Arizona is apparently nearing a five-year agreement with the pass rusher, who is currently on the franchise tag. The Cards signed tight end Jermaine Gresham to a considerable contract on Tuesday. It’s a wonder how they are doing any of this given their potential cap problems even before free agency started. It seems improbable that they’ll be able to keep Calais Campbell, while Alex Okafor, Tony Jefferson, Earl Watford, Marcus Cooper, and AQ Shipley are also free agents.

Pierre Garcon, WR, 49ers

One player the Seahawks may see twice next season is Garcon. San Francisco is expected to sign him to a four-year deal with a reported $16 million in the first year. Consider that the only WR to make more than $15 million/season is the recently-extended Antonio Brown. This is only $16 million in a single season, not $16 million per season, but that’s still insane. Garcon is a personal favorite of mine but definitely not being paid in the range of what you’d expect a player of his caliber to be paid. The 49ers have to spend money and this reunites Garcon with Kyle Shanahan, the former offensive coordinator in Washington. No news yet on if the Redskins and 49ers are actually coming to an agreement on a Kirk Cousins trade, as well.

Offensive Line Market

Ricky Wagner, RT — Signing with Lions

Rand Gatlin is reporting that Wagner, the top right tackle on the market, is signing with Detroit.

More News To Use:

• Kenny Still is re-signing with the Miami Dolphins for four years, $32 million, $20 million guaranteed per latest reports.
• Danny Woodhead is leaving the Chargers to join the Ravens.
• The New England Patriots have traded for Colts tight end Dwayne Allen. Indy re-signed TE Jack Doyle this week and the Patriots are looking for a replacement to Martellus Bennett. The Colts swapped a sixth round pick for a fourth rounder in the deal.
• The LA Chargers are reportedly very interested in Russell Okung.
• Safety Barry Church is reportedly signing with the Jaguars. Another loss for the Cowboys.
• The Miami Dolphins have reached a long-term agreement with defensive end Andre Branch.
• The Baltimore Ravens released Elvis Dumervil and asked tight end Dennis Pitta to take a paycut.
• Reports are that Scot McCloughan is basically finished as GM in Washington and has been for quite some time. McCloughan helped build the rosters for the Seahawks and 49ers but has well-documented off... “field”? Off-office problems.
• The Buffalo Bills restructured Tyrod Taylor’s contract and he will continue to be their starting QB.
• The Dallas Cowboys are expected to release Tony Romo, with the Broncos as the frontrunner to sign him. He may take his time before picking a new team.

Tuesday Updates

Rumors we’ve heard so far involving the Seahawks or NFC West teams:

Adrian Peterson

Stacey Dales is reporting that a source close to Peterson says that the Seahawks are among the teams he’d like to join. Peterson is so rich at this point that money might not be a factor in where he plays and instead he’d like to join the Super Bowl contender who would like to have him. I believe that Peterson is totally capable of playing at a high level but in Seattle he’d have to accept a reduced role behind Thomas Rawls. The Raiders on the other hand would give him an opportunity to start.

D.J. Fluker

Seattle could be a good match for recently-released G/T D.J. Fluker, formerly of the Chargers. The 11th overall pick in 2013, Fluker had his fifth-year option picked up last year but was released two days before it became guaranteed.

Brian Schwenke, G

A fourth round pick in 2013, Schwenke was a reserve guard on the Tennessee Titans, who happen to have the best offensive line in football. That could make him a good value target for Seattle to add competition to the interior of the line.

Terrell McClain, DL

Seattle is supposedly one of the teams interested in McClain, per Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports. The Dallas Cowboys interior defensive lineman is also a value add rather than a splashy move like Dontari Poe or Brandon Williams. He was considered to be perhaps the most stable defensive lineman on the Cowboys last season.

Kamar Aiken, WR

Not an exciting move at receiver, the Seahawks are reportedly in on Baltimore Ravens receiver Kamar Aiken per B/R’s Jason Cole. Aiken had almost 1,000 yards in 2015 but was an afterthought once the Ravens other receivers got healthy.

DeShawn Shead, CB

Brock Coyle, LB

Per ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia, the Seahawks will not be tendering offers to restricted free agents Shead and Coyle. Shead was the starting cornerback for 15 games before tearing his ACL. He is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season but could return later in the year after opening on PUP. His injury means that he won’t be highly sought after on the market, but Shead and Coyle are both free to sign with any team on Thursday. I assume they’ll both be on Seattle’s radar over the summer and could return at some point at lower costs than the tender would’ve been set at.

My database of every NFL free agent can be found here.